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Following a decline earlier in the decade, employment across upstate New York has been increasing modestly since 2004, according to New York Fed economists Jason Bram, James Orr and Rae Rosen.

Their analysis shows that sectors such as financial services, professional and business services, education, and health services, and leisure and hospitality have added jobs; however, many of these gains were offset by heavy losses in the manufacturing, information and trade, transportation and utilities sectors.

Additionally, job growth among upstate metropolitan areas has been uneven, according to Bram, Orr and Rosen. Most notably, throughout the decade Albany, Glens Falls and Ithaca have added jobs, while Elmira and Utica-Rome have seen relatively sharp employment declines. Binghamton, Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse have been experiencing a decade-long loss in manufacturing jobs that has restrained employment growth in these areas.

Overall employment growth has continued through 2007 for the upstate region, and the continued gains in the variety of services sectors should move upstate New York closer to a service-based economy.

Jason Bram is an economist and James Orr an assistant vice president in the Microeconomic and Regional Studies Function of the Research and Statistics Group; Rae Rosen is an assistant vice president and economist in the Regional Affairs Department.